Bosnia and Herzegovina: Our projects in brief

In line with its mandate and relevant OSCE commitments, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Mission) works closely with institutional partners in developing a better-governed security and defense sector capable of more effectively responding to contemporary and emerging threats and challenges to national and human security. Such Mission support includes assistance in decreasing the risk of accidental explosion, theft and proliferation of weapons, ammunition, and explosives in BiH. It also includes support to ensuring BiH compliance with and timely reporting on OSCE arms control commitments.

Education as a fundamental human right must be ensured without discrimination on any ground. It is therefore crucial for every society, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and all its levels of government, to recognize and combat discrimination in education. Two decades after the war ended, many children in BiH are still faced with discriminatory practices in education and a subsequent lack of inclusive quality education. This, in essence, challenges their right to education. Education policies and practices in BiH still uphold ethno-national divisions as opposed to promoting mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect for diversity. A key objective of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina is to strengthen and support the efforts of BiH education authorities to ensure non-discriminatory inclusive quality education for all children.

In spite of the progress made in the field of gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a comprehensive legal framework and introduced specialized services for survivors of gender-based violence, predominantly for victims of domestic violence, discrimination and violence based on gender in both the public and private spheres continue to be highly prevalent in BiH. Violence not only affects individual women, it endangers the well-being of the society as a whole.